Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

This month's guest is Gisela Dieter, Associate Professor of Spanish at SRU since 2005.  She received her PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Pittsburgh, PA in 2008 where she also minored in Spanish Linguistics.  Dieter has a Master of Arts in History from Youngstown State University and two Bachelor of Science Degrees from Clarion University of PA in Communications and Business. Born and raised in Panama, Dieter’s fields of expertise, interest and research are Panamanian and Cuban Literature, Women Writers, National Identity, African Diaspora, Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy.  A passion for learning and teaching drives Dieter’s dynamic classroom style where she strives to offer her students valuable information to help them improve their communicative and cultural competence in the Spanish Language aiming at helping students become effective professionals in our diverse and multicultural job market.  

What inspires you in your current position/role?
In a word:  Students.  That is my personal reality: students inspire me.  Teachers often speak of that moment, that almost sacred moment when the light goes on and there are visible sparks in the eyes of learners…well, that is the moment I seek.  I’m not going to lie, it doesn’t happen every single time, but when it does happen…the daily struggles of the profession are suddenly totally worth it.  I know it sounds cliché, but it is true in my experience.  This past spring semester, in my Reading in Spanish, for instance, students demonstrated such a range and depth of analysis that, suddenly, a Monday evening class was something I looked forward to!  And it was not just academic insight, I was able to witness personal growth as well.  There was this moment, while I was walking around one of the small-reading/discussion groups, I overheard the students saying to one another:  “I can’t believe this kind of stuff actually happened here in the States!  Men, I have to read up on this.  I don’t know &%$#@.”  Seeing my students learning about their own reality and culture in a Spanish class, to me, carries immense weight and truly inspires me in my current position as a teacher.

What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
Working in the business world for years before becoming a college professor taught me how hard life truly is.  I understand why people outside academia often look at universities as a bubble.  This knowledge helps me guide my students more efficiently and with honesty. They see me as someone who “has been there,” and I value that tremendously.  Working as a volunteer faculty member in the Humanities Ladder Program taught me that regardless of our circumstances, the thirst for learning is always there.  The challenge is to find ways to help those unaware of such thirst to tune into their senses, experience some success, find their passion and ignite their engines to pursue it...to take a sip from that water of knowledge…in other words, finding ways to provide them with a little bit of that proverbial salt, so they realize they are thirsty!

What project(s) are you currently working on?
I have recently applied for a Grant that, if awarded, will allow the Modern Languages and Cultures Department to explore possibilities to establish working relationships abroad, in Panama, my country of origin in a variety of capacities such as service learning, study abroad, teaching English to speakers of other languages and student exchange programs. I am heading to Panama this summer to begin the legwork, hoping to make initial contacts and prepare the way if/when we can begin the actual project.

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
The humanities are the key to human development.  In this era of communication, when we are all wirelessly connected, the greatest paradox is the reality that we are lonelier than ever before. This is a surprise to many.  However, it is easily understood if we stop and see, our relationships are all mediated. They are not genuine or real. They are “phony,” pun intended. Therefore, they are not truly satisfying.  The human experience is lost in cyberspace. I believe, the humanities are a venue to restore the “awe” factor and dissipate the sense of loss caused by the frantic chase for new tech.

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill,interesting story)?
Every time I get this question, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that, once, a million years ago, I won a beer-drinking-contest against a bunch of people, including several experienced-beer-drinking men. Not my proudest moment…but that has remained my go-to surprising fact about me to this day.

What shows are you currently binge-watching?
I don’t binge-watch shows, per se. I’m a HUGE movie fan, rather than a TV person.  Also, I have two teenage sons, and our “thing” is to watch movies.  So, now, we’ve been binge-watching the entire Marvel Universe, individual super-hero films as well as the Avengers Saga, while at the same time, finishing the Harry Potter series too. 

What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
I’m a spiritual person, so I try to turn my eyes towards heaven as the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night.

What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  I finally got them all.  And I have a challenge with my older son to read them this year…not sure if it will happen, but at least I’d like to get started.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
I ran into a glass door in front of my older son.  We were staying at a friend’s condo in Florida and we were getting ready to have lunch at the balcony. The a/c was on, so my son closed the sliding door after him, just as he has been taught to do when the air is on, but I didn’t realize it…so…lunch plate in hand, I ran into the stupid door.  It was not funny right away, believe me!  But after I picked up my bruised ego, we had a good laugh at the whole thing.

What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
I worked as a receptionist for an Accountants’ Firm in Panama, and the main part of my job was to guess…yes, guess, to have the super-power to be able to tell whether the owner and CEO of the firm was in the mood to take a phone call or not.  I was not allowed to send any of his calls to voicemail. But I was not allowed to transfer any calls to him either, if he was not in the mood for it/them. And he was always in his office behind close doors. So, needless to say, I didn’t last at that job.  I would tell the 21 year old me…”wait until you get married!”

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Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Michael Dittman, click HERE.

​Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

This month's guest is Michael Dittman, a writer and English Professor who lives in Butler, Pennsylvania.  He’s always looking for the next project that gets him too excited to sleep at night. Sometimes it's writing the next book (He is the author of Jack Kerouac; A Biography, Masterpieces of the Beat Generation, and Small Brutal Incidents), hacking together tumblr projects like Ithagram and Pictsburgh, blogging about arts and culture (He reviews comic art exhibits and scholarship for the International Journal of Comic Arts), or experimenting with lo-fi video and photography. Michael is also a member of our Community Advisory Board. Find him at michaeldittman.com 

​What inspires you in your current position/role?
This semester in a class discussion I started talking about the American Suffragettes’ “Night of Terror” in 1917 to contextualize a piece of literature we were reading.  As I talked about how these women were tortured because they wanted the right to vote, one of my students, an Army vet returning to college after several combat tours, said “Wait?  This was in America?” We had an incredible discussion about the American experience and how it does (or doesn’t) get expressed in literature. In one moment, this man who had several lifetimes of experience fighting for democracy had a completely different world opened to him and he dove right in to try to understand the world of people who had never crossed his mind. Moments like those keep me coming back to the classroom.
 
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
Working as a writing center tutor at Slippery Rock University showed me what I wanted to do and gave me the chance to figure out best strategies for helping other express themselves and their lives.  Working as a roofer taught me that there was no way I could do that sort of work for the rest of my life.

What project(s) are you currently working on? 
​A story map of Stewart O’Nan’s novel Snow Angels.  The book is set in Butler.  When the map is completed, it will collect all the places mentioned in the book and included images of what the places looked like during the time the book is set as compared to today through interactive maps and scenes with rich multimedia content to make connections in the story more clear and to spark a discussion about nostalgia, among other ideas.  As Umberto Eco writes, “Every text, after all, is a lazy machine asking the reader to do some of its work.

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia? 
We have made our worlds very small through the technological creation of ideological walled gardens.  Google has convinced us that knowledge and wisdom are the same thing and easily accessible through a click.  Yet, most of life’s deepest experiences can’t be reduced to an algorithm.  The humanities enable us to share lived experiences and create empathy within informed citizens.   
 
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I swim and paddleboard competitively – a couple of years ago I was nationally ranked.  The look of doubt in my students’ eyes when they hear this fact out never fails to destroy my ego.
 
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
As a huge comic nerd, I’m embarrassed to say I just finished The Punisher.  I took a long break with Hell on Wheels and so had to start over at the beginning and I just started Babylon Berlin
 
What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
“Why did I stay up so late?” and “Man, I’ve got to go to bed soon.”
 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Moby Dick.  Every summer I promise myself that this will be the year and every summer it sits unopened and mocking on my nightstand.
 
What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
While hiking with my wife on a trail a little north of Pittsburgh, we came around a curve to find a youngish couple coming up the hill on the trail towards us.  Completely naked.  We paid each other our “Good mornings” while all of us refused to admit that there was anything unusual happening. 
 
What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
I took care of a colony of capuchin monkeys.  They loathed me and never lost an opportunity to steal my glasses or pull out large chunks of my hair when I was in the enclosure with them.  If I could talk to the 19 year old, I’d tell him, “You think this is bad, wait until we end up at that restaurant.”

Can you describe another aspect of your life or career that is influenced or enriched by the humanities that people would find surprising?
I’m a photo enthusiast.  I eschew digital techniques to instead work with photographic processes that re over 100 years old.  Studying and documenting the human experience through two dimensional images and the interplay between photographer and subject is a profoundly humbling experience with an outcome that is also uncertain.  That uncertainty is key to my art and also to the interaction between humans that is expressed through the humanities.

  
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Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Cindy Lacom click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Cindy Lacom, who has taught at Slippery Rock University for 25 years.  She integrates gender and feminist issues into her teaching and scholarship, and has a deep interest in Disability Studies. She is fascinated by questions about how different bodies are invested with varied meanings as cultural texts (in terms of access to or denial of power, stigma and the "management" of that stigma, how we might change prejudice and bias).  Cindy is also a member of our Community Advisory Board.

What inspires you in your current position/role?
I often say, "I have the best job in the world," and I mean it.  What inspires me?  SRU students, who regularly impress and move me, compel me to think and re-think my positions and ideas.  I am motivated as well by many of my colleagues, who work tirelessly for social justice.  My mom also inspires me because she is so fierce.

What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
Teaching is at the center of my life, frankly, and it has informed me in myriad and profound ways.  Though we tend in academe to frame "teaching" and "learning" as classroom activities, I'm reminded daily that both activities occur all around us.  One instance occurred when I was an undergrad.  My Philosophy prof posed this question to us: does philosophy belong in the marketplace or the ivory tower?  A couple nights later, I was playing pool in a really dumpy bar and listened to two men talking about life choices (one man's daughter had just gotten married because she was pregnant). They interrogated the ethics of her choice, the ethics of their judgments, the degree of her individual agency, and the merits and drawbacks of marriage as in institution.  I wrote my paper the next night, and my response was squarely in the "marketplace" box. 

My work for non-profits has also fostered insights and shaped my goals.  I don't think idealism and pragmatism are mutually exclusive, though I probably once did. But what I have learned in an exec board capacity for non-profits is that a mission is almost certainly bound to founder without strategic goals, specific policies, and economic and social sustainability.  Dreams and passion are key, but a vision for social justice change has to supported by practical details to thrive.

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
I'll use an example from the field of Disability Studies as an example to explore this question. Because the Humanities invite us to consider something like statistics within a historical, philosophical and embodied framework.  Reading Disability Studies scholar Lennard Davis's "Constructing Normalcy" reminds us that statistics is not value-neutral but has been used to produce and maintain norms in everything from BMI to productivity ratings to intellectual measure that contribute to ableist biases that understand disability as "less than."  Because reading feminist philosopher Julie Kristeva allows us to integrate ideas of abjection when we analyze the creature in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in trying to figure out, "Why might Victor Frankenstein's recoil from his 'child' be so extreme when it first comes to life?  What about the creature marks it as 'monstrous'?" What happens when, in psychology or therapeutic/rehabilitative/medical fields, we use the discourse of "recovery"?  How might that reinforce ableist stereotypes that disabilities is something that needs to be "cured"?  How might scientists benefit from understanding their unconscious bias in research on sexuality?  None of these questions are discipline-specific; all of them have answers which are enriched by a Humanities perspective.

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I'm an avid hiker and camp every summer in the mountains of northern California.  

What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Great question.  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
I worked as a telemarketer for two weeks.  it was soul-destroying. I thought I needed the money but we were ripping off vulnerable people in what amounted to a money-making scheme.  I wouldn't have any advice for my past self because I had to work that awful job to decide that I would hopefully never do anything like it again. ​

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​
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Shawn Francis Peters click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Shawn Francis Peters, author of five works of nonfiction, including the forthcoming The Infamous Harry Hayward: A True Account of Murder and Mesmerism in Gilded Age Minneapolis (University of Minnesota Press). He teaches in the Integrated Liberal Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

What are you currently binge-watching?
I'm obsessed with The Crown (Netflix) and Wormwood (Netflix). The latter is directed by the great documentarian Errol Morris, whose work I have long admired. (Side note: Morris in a humanities guy, having majored in history at UW-Madison, where I teach.) I'm not even sure how I would describe the narrative, which centers on the mysterious death of a government researcher in the early 1950s.  It's part documentary, part fictionalization, and part experimental art film. Whatever the label, it's brilliant, as is typical of Morris' work.
 
​What projects are you currently working on?
I'm putting the finishing touches on a book about Harry Hayward, an infamous playboy criminal who lived in Minneapolis in the 1890s. Hayward was at the center of a notorious murder plot involving a young dressmaker, and his trial was a national sensation in 1895. The book is coming out in April from University of Minnesota Press, and I'm excited about sharing Hayward's sordid story with a broad audience.  I'm also finishing up a book on homeschooling with James Dwyer, who teaches in the William & Mary Law School. When I get those out of the way, I'm diving into a book project about an armed standoff in Wisconsin in the early 1900s.

​Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
The humanities matter to everyone because they speak to the core of our experiences as humans. Works of history or literature (the fields that I'm most familiar with) grapple with the profound and complex issues that shape our public and private lives -- things like ethics, the meaning of the past, or what it means to live a meaningful life. Sure, academics can and do pick those things apart, but everyone faces them. It's thus vitally important that we expand the reach of discussions about the humanities and give a wide variety of audiences exposure to them.  These exchanges can't be limited to the academy.

What inspires you in your current position/role?
Curiosity, mainly! I teach interdisciplinary humanities courses in the Integrated Liberal Studies (ILS) Program at UW-Madison, and in them I work with students in exploring things like practices and traditions of remix and appropriation. We ask such questions as, "What does it mean to sample something in an artistic work?" and "Can anyone ever be truly original?" I find those issues to be endlessly fascinating, and I'm always learning more about them by working with my students. The same holds true with my search -- I'm curious, and I like organizing clear, compelling narratives from a tangle of different sources. 

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Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Margaret Hewitt, Special Collections Librarian at the Butler Area Public Library, click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Margaret Hewitt, Special Collections Librarian at the Butler Area Public Library. She grew up in Michigan, and received her BA from Alma College and MA in Public History from Duquesne University. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Library Association and Society of American Archivists, and is on the Community Advisory Board of the Stone House Center for Public Humanities.

​What inspires you in your current position/role?
The daily interaction with patrons, because it is a new experience every day. Working at a public library, I help a wide range of people daily, from middle schoolers through octogenarians, and there’s no typical question. While most researchers coming to my department are doing family history, I get everyone from history students learning about primary sources for the first time to graduate students to new homeowners researching their house history to professors out of state. With all my researchers, finding the document or personal story that ignites the spark of interest in history is my passion -- the moment where the lightbulb goes off and someone can look beyond seeing history as a sterile list of names and dates, but the ongoing lived experiences of real people. It might be something as simple as talking for a moment about how expensive a 10cent garment advertised in a historic newspaper really was for a working person, or delving further into the historic context of the pages of an estate. I believe that if you can lead someone to empathize with the experiences that an ancestor went through or marvel at the accomplishments of a local historic figure, it opens up the opportunity for further historic curiosity and empathy for others in the world at large today.
 
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
My first archival job post-grad school was for a small historical society. While they had been actively collecting documents for decades, they had never had a staff person before, so there were no finding aids and no prior organization of any kind -- I was starting from zero with a giant backlog. In school, you learn to handle collections in ideal situations, where every organization has enough staff/time/resources for their collection, but we all know those rarely exist! I valued the experience because it was truly in-the-trenches, creating an organizational hierarchy from scratch and finding the best way to store and conserve a wide range of materials on a limited budget. The collection was full of unknown surprises too, as I found everything from an 18th century land warrant for the first settler who named the town (cool) to nitrate film negatives (exciting but scary, as the material is extremely flammable, and can even self-ignite if
the film has started to degrade).

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I love a physical challenge, and where I lack in muscle I probably overcompensate in tenacity. My fiancé and I try to hike a national park each year, and climbing the final mile rock scramble at the top of Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah was an unforgettable experience.  I did a Tough Mudder with a group of family and friends, which was 12 miles of running interspersed with smart activities like jumping through fire and crawling down into rain-flooded muddy tunnels. Last year I took on my hardest--and possibly craziest--challenge yet by completing a GoRuck Tough. The Tough is a 12 hour endurance event (overnight, no less) of team-building and physical challenges based on special forces training. Participants are led by a cadre, carry a weighted pack and other team weights through the entire event, and are pushed to their mental and physical limits. I looked like I’d lost a fight with a cat in a washing machine by the end, soaked, scratched, and bruised, but it felt amazing to come through the end and I’m eyeing the calendar to sign up for another.
 
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
Game of Thrones, like everyone else in the world. I went as the Hound to a Halloween party this year. We watch Seinfeld reruns every night without fail. And I’ve started getting into the Great British Bake-Off. It isn’t a tv show, but I’m binge-listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast.
 
What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
I’m a night owl who is terrible at being still and doing nothing, and I never feel satisfied with what I’ve crammed into a day, so the last thing I think at night is inevitably “one more chapter,” “one more section of this embroidery project,” “one more article,” or “one more episode.” As a result, my first thought in the morning is usually a desperate plea for coffee and regret that once again I didn’t get more sleep.
 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Top of the list right now are Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and finishing Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton.

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Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Wes Davis, Director of Development for West End Neighborhood House, a community center located in Wilmington, DE, click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Wes Davis, Director of Development for West End Neighborhood House, a community center located in Wilmington, DE. Wes currently serves on the board of the Brandywine Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and was recently elected as the organization's treasurer. Wes earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2000, as well as a Master's Degree in document translation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2006. In 2014, he became a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), and in 2015 completed a certificate course in Non-Profit Management through the University of Delaware.

What inspires you in your current position/role? 
The innovative nature of where I work inspires me the most. We have an incredible team who is always looking for creative ways to solve our community's most pressing problems. Plus, helping those in need is a worthwhile endeavor that is intrinsically motivating.

What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?  Differences in management style between organizations has been the most educational component of my experience. It taught me the importance of reputation in personal and organizational success, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of both authoritarian and autonomous leadership styles.

What project(s) are you currently working on?
Developing passive income streams to help support the ongoing operating costs of my organization. These expenses are the most difficult to fund and current sources continue to cap their support for this purpose or reduce the amount of funding they provide overall in this area.

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
Humanities (viewed through the lens of community and social services) are important to everyone because of the real-world, practical impact on everyone. For example, government agencies contract with not-for-profit organizations to do the work they are not trained in or capable of accomplishing on their own. They often rely heavily on these local organizations' expertise and the trust and deep, long-standing relationships they have developed with their communities.

What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Guns, Germs & Steel

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Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with CPH Student Assistant, Julia Null, click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Julia Null, Student Assistant at the Stone House Center for Public Humanities (CPH). Julia is an art major and graphic design minor at Slippery Rock University. She is from Canton, OH and currently a Senior at Slippery Rock University. After school, she hopes to find a position working as a Graphic Designer or Art Director. She assists the CPH in designing eye-catching event flyers, informational handouts, and program booklets. She also writes a variety of articles about the importance of the humanities. 

What inspires you in your current position/role?
I am inspired by the past experience of designing various types of work. Through the knowledge and skills learned over the years I am able to be inspired to invent a new approach in designs.
 
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
The most educational experiences have been in the event where I received corrections. When I have done something incorrect or have not known how to use a certain tool, I gain the most valuable knowledge. By learning from mistakes the information sticks better.
 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. I have seen the movie and heard the story many times as it is one of my favorites. However, I have yet to read the original book. I hope to find the time within the next few years.
 
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
I am currently watching Greys Anatomy and re-watching The Office.
 
What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
The worst job I ever held during college was when I worked at Wendy’s. It was a very humbling job. I was required to learn how to thrive in a hostile environment. I had to learn ways of dealing with difficult people. I also had to deal with the labor of wash dishes and preparing food. This job taught me to be patient, respect other people and most of all that I did not want to do this the rest of my life. It gave me the motivation to want to finish my degree to better myself and create better opportunities. I did not enjoy the time I spent working at Wendy’s but it did help me realize what I did not in life.

Why are the humanities important to you?
The humanities are important to me because it pertains to everything I do. Every subject and activity leads back to being a part of the humanities. Art is a major component in the humanities in my opinion and to me art is extremely important. Science and literature are equally important in my mind. The humanities is such a broad category it is hard to not believe they are important. The humanities give meaning and purpose to our lives. 

~~~

Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Dr. Joshua Drake, click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Dr. Joshua F. Drake, Professor of Music and Humanities at Grove City College where he teaches a range of music and art-related courses.  His Ph.D. research, at the University of Glasgow (UK) was on 15th century motets.  He is co-author of Art and Music: a Student’s Guide (Crossway, 2014).

What inspires you in your current position/role?
People believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  This would be very convenient, in some ways, because it would make our tastes unimpeachable.  We could no more be held responsible for our tastes in art or music than we could be held responsible for our eye color.  But on the other hand, we would have little reason, and even less ability, to change our tastes.  Even more alarming, we could hardly congratulate ourselves on them, as we tend already to do. No teenager who has taken an interest in a new independent rock band thinks that his delight in that music is a mere byproduct of his brain chemistry.  He thinks it is very good music and, if you ask him to, he may actually take pains to show you why.  This suggests that tastes may actually be the sort of thing that we change based on influences from outside. But not all influences are good.  My hope—perhaps a fool’s hope—is that my influence is a good one. 

By confronting my students with beautiful things with which they have had little or no experience, and demonstrating how and why these things are beautiful, I can help them like what is more likable.  This saves them from being condemned to whatever tastes they haphazardly have formed and gives them the skills to continue to evaluate their leisure wisely.  This will hopefully mean more pleasure for them since they will have chosen their leisure based on more than raw impulse or the brute force of popular advertisement. 

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
The popular scientists are often reminding us of the narrow gap between humans and animals.  I cannot help but think that part of their incitement to do so is to lift from humans some of the terrible moral burden we expect of ourselves but do not expect of the beasts. But the consequences of these comparisons are often more harmful than might be imagined.  If we link our behavior to that of the beasts, we may forego pleasures that are distinctly human. Now, I well believe that animals have intense pleasures.  Everyone in the house knows when the dog is scratching a good itch.  But the pleasures are mostly sensual.  Of the pleasures that come when sensations combine to form meaning—of the delights of a Euclidian proof, of the return of a symphony’s opening theme, or the denouements of Aeschylus—the dog can know nothing.  Sensation offers tremendous pleasures to be sure.  No human would wish to be without them for long.  But it is the distinctive blessing of being human that we can have pleasures that come from meaning and not just sensation.  Everyone, therefore, should study the humanities because it is there that we are offered so many examples of meaning made especially to please us. 

The natural world is full of meaning too, but it is touching to meet meaning made by our fellow humans—and for our fellow humans.  Here I should be careful.  After all, the animals make things for one another too, as any bird’s nest will testify.  But our inventions are sometimes of a sort that please only us.  I too may make a nest—of blankets and sheets—but I can also make a string quartet.  The dog may nestle up in the first but he will fall asleep during the second.
 
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I enjoy playing sailor songs on my concertina.  People imagine that they enjoy folk music when in fact they’ve likely never known it.  Folk music is the music that a discreet local group of people evolve and make for one another.  It is a music made by people you know personally, in an idiom that crops up in relative isolation, based on the various social and practical needs of the people who make it.  I should point out at once the irony:  I am not a sailor.  In fact, I have never been out to sea on a sailboat at all.  But by making a music that evolved for sailors (as opposed to a music that evolved to sell radio advertising space or to erect totemic pop stars) I feel myself a little bit more able to enjoy something that was once ubiquitous in human experience and is now nearly lost. 

What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
My first thought in the morning is surprise and gratitude.  I am perpetually thankful to wake up in a world like this, next to a wife like mine, in a house full of children and a neighborhood full of life, with my books at my elbow and my work waiting for me.  It seems almost impossible, given what I know of my own wickedness, to be given such a life.

My last thought is variable and depends on whatever I was reading or doing before I fell asleep or whatever I was speaking with my wife about before we both switched off the light.  I suppose this is fairly normal.  It is the land of Queen Mab that follows, and the dreams I meet there are perhaps more interesting—though not at this juncture. 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia.  Here is a book that delighted most of our English speaking predecessors and has fallen almost entirely into obscurity.  Sidney’s sonnets in Astrophel and Stella continue to delight, and his Apology for Poetry is a common enough text in literary criticism.  But the Arcadia is patently his most entertaining work.  I’ve taken it up several times and made it nearly halfway through but have never completed it.  It makes me wonder if there isn’t some deficiency in my literary abilities that keeps at arm’s length a work so obviously pleasant.

~~~

Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Dr. Jason Stuart, click here.    

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Julia Null, Student Assistant at the Stone House Center for Public Humanities (CPH). Julia is an art major and graphic design minor at Slippery Rock University. She is from Canton, OH and currently a Senior at Slippery Rock University. After school, she hopes to find a position working as a Graphic Designer or Art Director. She assists the CPH in designing eye-catching event flyers, informational handouts, and program booklets. She also writes a variety of articles about the importance of the humanities. 
​

What inspires you in your current position/role?
I am inspired by the past experience of designing various types of work. Through the knowledge and skills learned over the years I am able to be inspired to invent a new approach in designs.
 
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
The most educational experiences have been in the event where I received corrections. When I have done something incorrect or have not known how to use a certain tool, I gain the most valuable knowledge. By learning from mistakes the information sticks better.
 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. I have seen the movie and heard the story many times as it is one of my favorites. However, I have yet to read the original book. I hope to find the time within the next few years.
 
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
I am currently watching Greys Anatomy and re-watching The Office.
 
What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
The worst job I ever held during college was when I worked at Wendy’s. It was a very humbling job. I was required to learn how to thrive in a hostile environment. I had to learn ways of dealing with difficult people. I also had to deal with the labor of wash dishes and preparing food. This job taught me to be patient, respect other people and most of all that I did not want to do this the rest of my life. It gave me the motivation to want to finish my degree to better myself and create better opportunities. I did not enjoy the time I spent working at Wendy’s but it did help me realize what I did not in life.

Why are the humanities important to you?
The humanities are important to me because it pertains to everything I do. Every subject and activity leads back to being a part of the humanities. Art is a major component in the humanities in my opinion and to me art is extremely important. Science and literature are equally important in my mind. The humanities is such a broad category it is hard to not believe they are important. The humanities give meaning and purpose to our lives. 

~~~

Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Dr. Joshua Drake, click HERE.

Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Joshua F. Drake, Professor of Music and Humanities at Grove City College where he teaches a range of music and art-related courses.  His Ph.D. research, at the University of Glasgow (UK) was on 15th century motets. He is co-author of Art and Music: a Student’s Guide (Crossway, 2014).

What inspires you in your current position/role?
People believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This would be very convenient, in some ways, because it would make our tastes unimpeachable. We could no more be held responsible for our tastes in art or music than we could be held responsible for our eye color. But on the other hand, we would have little reason, and even less ability, to change our tastes. Even more alarming, we could hardly congratulate ourselves on them, as we tend already to do. No teenager who has taken an interest in a new independent rock band thinks that his delight in that music is a mere byproduct of his brain chemistry.  He thinks it is very good music and, if you ask him to, he may actually take pains to show you why. 

This suggests that tastes may actually be the sort of thing that we change based on influences from outside. But not all influences are good.  My hope—perhaps a fool’s hope—is that my influence is a good one. By confronting my students with beautiful things with which they have had little or no experience, and demonstrating how and why these things are beautiful, I can help them like what is more likable. This saves them from being condemned to whatever tastes they haphazardly have formed and gives them the skills to continue to evaluate their leisure wisely.  This will hopefully mean more pleasure for them since they will have chosen their leisure based on more than raw impulse or the brute force of popular advertisement.  

Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
The popular scientists are often reminding us of the narrow gap between humans and animals.  I cannot help but think that part of their incitement to do so is to lift from humans some of the terrible moral burden we expect of ourselves but do not expect of the beasts. But the consequences of these comparisons are often more harmful than might be imagined.  If we link our behavior to that of the beasts, we may forego pleasures that are distinctly human. Now, I well believe that animals have intense pleasures.  Everyone in the house knows when the dog is scratching a good itch.  But the pleasures are mostly sensual.  Of the pleasures that come when sensations combine to form meaning—of the delights of a Euclidian proof, of the return of a symphony’s opening theme, or the denouements of Aeschylus—the dog can know nothing. 

Sensation offers tremendous pleasures to be sure.  No human would wish to be without them for long.  But it is the distinctive blessing of being human that we can have pleasures that come from meaning and not just sensation.  Everyone, therefore, should study the humanities because it is there that we are offered so many examples of meaning made especially to please us.  The natural world is full of meaning too, but it is touching to meet meaning made by our fellow humans—and for our fellow humans.  Here I should be careful.  After all, the animals make things for one another too, as any bird’s nest will testify.  But our inventions are sometimes of a sort that please only us.  I too may make a nest—of blankets and sheets—but I can also make a string quartet.  The dog may nestle up in the first but he will fall asleep during the second.

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I enjoy playing sailor songs on my concertina.  People imagine that they enjoy folk music when in fact they’ve likely never known it.  Folk music is the music that a discreet local group of people evolve and make for one another.  It is a music made by people you know personally, in an idiom that crops up in relative isolation, based on the various social and practical needs of the people who make it.  I should point out at once the irony:  I am not a sailor.  In fact, I have never been out to sea on a sailboat at all.  But by making a music that evolved for sailors (as opposed to a music that evolved to sell radio advertising space or to erect totemic pop stars) I feel myself a little bit more able to enjoy something that was once ubiquitous in human experience and is now nearly lost. 

What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
My first thought in the morning is surprise and gratitude.  I am perpetually thankful to wake up in a world like this, next to a wife like mine, in a house full of children and a neighborhood full of life, with my books at my elbow and my work waiting for me.  It seems almost impossible, given what I know of my own wickedness, to be given such a life.

My last thought is variable and depends on whatever I was reading or doing before I fell asleep or whatever I was speaking with my wife about before we both switched off the light.  I suppose this is fairly normal.  It is the land of Queen Mab that follows, and the dreams I meet there are perhaps more interesting—though not at this juncture. 

What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia.  Here is a book that delighted most of our English speaking predecessors and has fallen almost entirely into obscurity.  Sidney’s sonnets in Astrophel and Stella continue to delight, and his Apology for Poetry is a common enough text in literary criticism.  But the Arcadia is patently his most entertaining work.  I’ve taken it up several times and made it nearly halfway through but have never completed it.  It makes me wonder if there isn’t some deficiency in my literary abilities that keeps at arm’s length a work so obviously pleasant.
 
~~~

Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Dr. Jason Stuart, click HERE.